Secret Past
by Gwendolin Sparrow
Summary: An adventure of Artemis after Hybris. HS/AF, really sappy. Rated T for safety.
1. Two Phone Calls

Author's note: At the beginning of this tale, Artemis and Minerva have been going out for about two months

Author's note: At the beginning of this tale, Artemis and Minerva have been going out for about two months. Now, this is my first Artemis Fowl fan-fiction and I am a rabid A/H fan. Please be merciful. 

Chapter 1

Two Phone Calls

Artemis Fowl sat at his desk, drumming up the nerve to make a necessary, but probably unpleasant, phone call. He had reached for the phone a half-dozen times in the past quarter hour, now he reached for it once more.

Dialing the number he waited two rings before a decidedly feminine voice answered.

"Hello?"

Artemis took a deep breath, "Good evening, Minerva."

"Artemis? Is that you?"

"Certainly."

"This is odd, I was about to call you."

"Great minds think alike." Artemis chuckled slightly. "Pardon my pun, but why?"

"Well… About us… I mean…" Minerva cleared her throat." I think you know I like you as a friend but… It's not working."

"You don't want to be the girlfriend of the most brilliant boy on the planet? Many would jump at the chance."

"Yes, that is it." There was a long pause, then a sharp intake of breath was heard on the other end of the line. "Oh, I'm so sorry; I didn't want to say it quite so bluntly! Did I hurt you?"

"No, you didn't hurt me. That was the self-same thing I was calling you about."

"You don't want me for your girlfriend?"

Nervously Artemis replied, "Yes… I kind of think I like someone else."

Another pause made Artemis wish he could take back his words.

"Are you still there? I dropped a bombshell didn't I?"

Minerva answered, sounding quite relieved. "No, that was not a bombshell… But I do have to thank you."

"Why thank me? I just dumped you."

"I like someone else also. Someone you might know."

"Alright, who is the lucky fellow, since I might know him?"

A small, slightly embarrassed, voice answered back. "Dom Butler."

"My bodyguard? You're kidding! He is twice your age."

"No, your bodyguard's son."

"He has no son."

"Then I know more than you. Good Evening, Artemis." The phone clicked and fell silent. Artemis stood holding the dead receiver for a long time before he finally laid it back down in the cradle.

_Butler has a son…_ thought Artemis. _And I thought I knew everything._

- - - - - - - - -

Holly Short awoke to the sound of her LEP communicator beeping. She groaned and rolled over, picking it up. _This had better be good._

"Hello?" She asked in a slightly sleepy voice.

"Answer the door, please." said an all-to-familiar voice.

"Artemis!" Holly came completely awake. "What are you doing in Haven, and if so how did you get through? You're human."

"All will be explained if you will just open the door." And indeed there was a knocking coming from the vicinity of the front door.

"I'm coming, hold on." She turned her communicator off and slipped out of bed. Throwing on her thick robe, because her home was rather cool at night, Holly hurried to the door.

She opened it to find, not Artemis, but a fellow fairy with an uncanny resemblance to the human genius.

"Do not say a thing, Holly. Just let me in."

Dumbfounded Holly did so, and closed the door behind him.


	2. A New Invention

Author's note: I have some writer's block so the story's a bit on the short side

Author's note: I have some writer's block so the story's a bit on the short side.

Chapter 2

A New Invention

"What happened, Artemis? Why are you a fairy?" Holly could not believe it.

Artemis turned around and before Holly's very eyes grew taller and paler, his ears also became less pointy, so that he looked like his normal human self. "It's a new device I am working on for Foaly. It takes the DNA of a specific human or fairy and morphs it with fairy magic and technology. One places this small device," he held up what looked like a small silicon chip, "on their forehead. It is absorbed through their skin and into their brain, therefore giving one the ability to become human or fairy at will. They will soon be standard LEP issue, but this one is yours."

He handed the device to Holly, who looked at it for a second then back at him. "Why didn't you just send the device mechanics to Foaly and have him make it and give it too me? Why take the trouble to come down to Haven yourself? You're going to make Minerva jealous."

"I won't make Minerva jealous, because she broke up with me. That is part of the reason I came down in the first place." Holly's ears began to go pink.

"Not that," hurried Artemis, his face becoming pink in his turn. _Why does she have to misunderstand me?_

"What is it then?" answered Holly, a tiny bit relieved but also a bit disappointed that Artemis hadn't come just to see her.

"Butler has a secret past, and I can't trust him fully before I find out what it is."


	3. Kidnapped

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Kidnapped

Foaly stood at his desk, slightly bemused. Artemis had just contacted him to ask for his help in tracking one Domovi Butler Junior. "Couldn't he just do it himself?" grumbled the centaur. Then an amusing thought struck him. _What if Artemis is just using this as an excuse to come see Holly?_ He pushed the thought out of his mind as quickly as it had come in. "Now, let's see…" Foaly cracked his knuckles and got to business. He did not realize how close to the truth he was.

- - - - - - - - -

Artemis woke the next morning staring at the low ceiling of Holly's guest bedroom. He had chosen to remain in his fairy form while in Haven, on the remote chance that someone would spot him. Yawning mightily, he was not a morning person, Artemis stumbled out to the kitchen, where he could smell coffee brewing.

"Artemis?" a voice from behind startled him. He swung around, nearly knocking Holly over in the process. Before he realized what he was doing, he put his hand on her shoulder to steady himself.

Artemis drew his hand quickly back, almost as if he had been burned, as Holly apologized for startling him. "I just can't get used to your fairy form." she explained.

Soon the two were sitting across the kitchen table from one another, munching toast and drinking coffee. _It's now or never… _reflected Artemis. Taking a deep, quaking breath, he asked the question that would change his life. "Holly, would you like to go out with me this evening?"

- - - - - - - - -

Holly stood up so fast that her coffee was knocked over, and spilled across the table to drip onto the floor. She barely heard Artemis ask what the matter was as she ran into her room and shut the door. Once inside, she leaned against the door-frame and mentally berated herself. _Dumb move Holly. You've liked him since Hybras and now you just ran away from a chance for a date. Stupid girl. What would I wear? Where would we go? Don't take chances. Just refuse. I can't do that! That would be lying!_

A timid knock on her door shattered Holly's conflicting thoughts. "Holly? What did I say?" Artemis's voice sounded worried. "Did I offend you?"

Holly spun around and opened the door, startling Artemis for the second time in the past hour. Before he could properly react, she flung her arms around him. "Yes, Artemis, I'll go out with you tonight. Just don't take me anywhere too fancy. I haven't any formal clothes."

- - - - - - - - -

Artemis could hardly contain his joy. He sat beside Holly in the limo thinking that he was the luckiest person on the planet. When Artemis and Holly had arrived at the Fowl Mansion, Butler had opened the front door, taken one look, and rolled his eyes. Now Artemis and Holly were on their way to their first date. Holly was using the device that Artemis had given her and she now appeared as a normal human so that she could wander around earth's surface unobtrusively.

Soon the limo came to a smooth stop in front of Artemis's favorite restaurant. It wasn't fancy, as one would expect. It was the ancient Olive Garden restaurant that sat but 10 minutes from his house. When Butler opened the door for the pair, Artemis got out first, the helped Holly out after him.

- - - - - - - - -

The waitress gave them a table near the center of the restaurant, where all the couple tables were (you know, the ones with only two seats). Butler sat nearby to keep an eye on his young charge. Halfway through their dinner, Holly's communicator beeped. She glanced at it, annoyed, then excused herself from the table, eyes widened in shock. Before she left though, she scribbled something on her napkin.

Artemis watched her go out the front door, then idly picked up the napkin. _"Someone has Root's communicator," _it read. Artemis's brow furrowed as he considered who would have that piece of equipment. His reverie was interrupted though, by a woman's scream. He looked up to see a terrified waitress come racing through the front doors of the restaurant. "I went out to get a breath of fresh air, and saw a man forcing a gagged woman into a car! I don't think he saw me but…" The woman took a breath. "Was anyone here with a red-headed girl wearing a green sweater dress?"

Artemis locked eyes with Butler, "Time to go", the genius mouthed. He left a 50 bill on the table, then dashed out the door.


End file.
